The Effect of Lockdown Period during the COVID-19 Pandemic on Air Quality in Sydney Region, Australia

Hiep Duc, David Salter, Merched Azzi, Ningbo Jiang, Loredana Warren, Sean Watt, Matthew Riley, Stephen White, Toan Trieu, Lisa Tzu-Chi Chang, Xavier Barthelemy, David Fuchs and Huynh Nguyen
Additional contact information
Hiep Duc: Department of Planning, Industry and Environment, P.O. Box 29, Lidcombe, NSW 2141, Australia
David Salter: Department of Planning, Industry and Environment, P.O. Box 29, Lidcombe, NSW 2141, Australia
Merched Azzi: Department of Planning, Industry and Environment, P.O. Box 29, Lidcombe, NSW 2141, Australia
Ningbo Jiang: Department of Planning, Industry and Environment, P.O. Box 29, Lidcombe, NSW 2141, Australia
Loredana Warren: Department of Planning, Industry and Environment, P.O. Box 29, Lidcombe, NSW 2141, Australia
Sean Watt: Department of Planning, Industry and Environment, P.O. Box 29, Lidcombe, NSW 2141, Australia
Matthew Riley: Department of Planning, Industry and Environment, P.O. Box 29, Lidcombe, NSW 2141, Australia
Stephen White: Department of Planning, Industry and Environment, P.O. Box 29, Lidcombe, NSW 2141, Australia
Toan Trieu: Department of Planning, Industry and Environment, P.O. Box 29, Lidcombe, NSW 2141, Australia
Lisa Tzu-Chi Chang: Department of Planning, Industry and Environment, P.O. Box 29, Lidcombe, NSW 2141, Australia
Xavier Barthelemy: Department of Planning, Industry and Environment, P.O. Box 29, Lidcombe, NSW 2141, Australia
David Fuchs: Department of Planning, Industry and Environment, P.O. Box 29, Lidcombe, NSW 2141, Australia
Huynh Nguyen: Department of Planning, Industry and Environment, P.O. Box 29, Lidcombe, NSW 2141, Australia

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 7, 1-32

Abstract: In early 2020 from April to early June, the metropolitan area of Sydney as well as the rest of New South Wales (NSW, Australia) experienced a period of lockdown to prevent the spread of COVID-19 virus in the community. The effect of reducing anthropogenic activities including transportation had an impact on the urban environment in terms of air quality which is shown to have improved for a number of pollutants, such as Nitrogen Dioxides (NO 2 ) and Carbon Monoxide (CO), based on monitoring data on the ground and from a satellite. In addition to primary pollutants CO and NO x emitted from mobile sources, PM 2.5 (primary and secondary) and secondary Ozone (O 3 ) during the lockdown period will also be analyzed using both statistical methods on air quality data and the modelling method with emission and meteorological data input to an air quality model. By estimating the decrease in traffic volume in the Sydney region, the corresponding decrease in emission input to the Weather Research and Forecasting—Community Multiscale Air Quality Modelling System (WRF-CMAQ) air quality model is then used to estimate the effect of lockdown on the air quality especially CO, NO 2 , O 3 , and PM 2.5 in the Greater Metropolitan Region (GMR) of Sydney. The results from both statistical and modelling methods show that NO 2 , CO, and PM 2.5 levels decreased during the lockdown, but O 3 instead increased. However, the change in the concentration levels are small considering the large reduction of ~30% in traffic volume.

Keywords: COVID-19 lockdown; air quality; greater mtropolitan region of Sydney; WRF-CMAQ (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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